The artist Gustave Courbet once said, "the beautiful is in nature and it is encountered under most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found, it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it." I have always been enraptured by the natural world and strive to recreate what moves and excites me with my art. I have always been captivated by animals and the many " diverse forms of reality" nature holds. As a kid, I was always drawing something, be it the maple tree in the backyard, our dog or someone in my family...I was ALWAYS drawing. Animals are the subject that make up the major body of my work. The initial fascination animals held for me as a child still holds true for me today. It's the wonderful aspects their daily lives in their prospective habitats that I attempt to capture in my art work. It's the soulful essence of the individual and how that individual interacts with its surroundings are the stories I try to tell in my work.